Happy Birthday, John Heisman – Honorary Texan

John Heisman, the man for whom football’s Heisman Trophy is named, was not born in Texas. He was born October 23, 1869 in Cleveland, Ohio…but he did coach at Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas from 1924-1927, so I hereby declare him an Honorary Texan so that we can celebrate his birthday in true Texas style.

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of the innovations John Heisman made to the game of football. It was his idea to have the quarterback say “Hike!” to start each play and to have the center “snap” the ball to the quarterback instead of rolling or kicking it. It was also his idea to divide football games into quarters. He considered his greatest contribution the development of the forward pass (in 1906). Can you even imagine a football game without these familiar features?

Heisman retired from coaching after his years at Rice University but continued to write sports articles and serve in advisory positions. As Athletic Director of the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City, Heisman set up the structure and voting system to decide who was the best college football player in the country each year. The first Downtown Athletic Club Award was bestowed in 1935. Before the second annual award could be given, the beloved coach died of pneumonia on October 3, 1936, and the DAC Award was renamed the Heisman Memorial Trophy by a unanimous vote of his friends and admirers.